Ruling on Pruitt Lawsuit Challenging ObamaCare
"Today's ruling is a consequential victory for the rule of law. The administration and its bureaucrats in the IRS handed out billions in illegal tax credits and subsidies and vastly expanded the reach of the health care law because they didn't like the way Congress wrote the Affordable Care Act. That's not how our system of government works," Attorney General Pruitt said. "The Obama administration created this problem and rather than having an agency like the IRS rewrite a law it didn't like, the administration should have done the right thing and worked with Congress to amend the law. Oklahoma was the first to challenge the administration's actions and today's ruling vindicates what we recognized early on and that is the administration can't rewrite the Affordable Care Act by executive fiat."
Oklahoma's lawsuit challenges an IRS rule issued in May 2012 that called for 1) tax subsidies to be issued in states like Oklahoma without a state-based health care exchange and 2) assessed "large employer" penalties in states that did not establish state health care exchanges. Both parts of the rule contradict the language of the ACA, which plainly states that tax subsidies can only be issued and tax penalties are only to be assessed in states that established state-based health care exchanges. Most states, including Oklahoma, did not to establish their own exchanges.
The ruling came after the same issue has already been reviewed and ruled on by two federal appeals courts -- one in Virginia and one in the District of Columbia -- and is now awaiting consideration by the U.S. Supreme Court. The two appeals courts issued conflicting rulings on the same day in July.
In his ruling, Judge White relied on the District of Columbia appeals court, which ruled that the ACA specifies that federal subsidies are available to people who purchase health care insurance through a state exchange, or marketplace, not a federal exchange. Pruitt said the issue would likely be settled by the U.S. Supreme Court. "We look forward to making our case and continuing the effort to hold federal agencies accountable to their duty to enforce the laws passed by Congress," Pruitt said.
The importance of the lawsuit is that should Pruitt and Oklahoma prevail, Oklahoma along with 33 other states which chose not to set up health care exchanges, can then also choose not to be part of the federal health care exchanges.
"Today's ruling is a huge win for Oklahoma, but it's just a first step. Since Oklahoma filed the first lawsuit in 2012, others have followed our lead and made similar claims in other jurisdictions. It's likely this issue will ultimately be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. We look forward to making our case and continuing the effort to hold federal agencies accountable to their duty to enforce the laws passed by Congress," Attorney General Pruitt said.
Attorney General Pruitt also expressed thanks to the attorneys in the AG's Office who worked on this case. "I want to thank Solicitor General Patrick Wyrick and the attorneys in our federalism unit for their dedication and outstanding legal work on this important case," General Pruitt said.
Oklahoma's Fifth District Congressman James Lankford, who is also the Republican nominee to fill the seat being vacated by U.S. Senator Tom Coburn. Lankford praised Pruitt. "Once again, Oklahoma's Attorney General Scott Pruitt deserves our state's gratitude for his diligent work on behalf of Oklahomans against the Administration's overreach and redefinition of the Affordable Care Act," said Lankford. "I am glad we have such a zealous advocate for our state in the court room, as the Obama Administration attempts to reinterpret the law when the text of the law doesn't work for their purposes."
Lankford is Chairman of the House Oversight Committee's Subcommittee on Energy Policy, Health Care and Entitlements. Pruitt testified in July 2013 before Lankford's Subcommittee. "When Attorney General Pruitt laid out the facts of the Oklahoma case in my Oversight Subcommittee last year, no one from the Administration could detail how they made the decision to ignore the plain text of the law. Ultimately, the court ruled that the law means what the law says, not what any federal agency wants the law to say."
Gov. Mary Fallin also thanked Pruitt and his team. "For years, I have argued that OamaCare represents bad policy, irresponsible spending, an outrageous expansion of federal authority into the private sector, and unconstitutional law. Since 2012, the state of Oklahoma has been fighting the implementation of the ACA, both to protect our citizens from the negative effects of this law -- including devastating cuts to Medicare -- and to stand up for Constitutional principles."
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